<I>Chicago, Hours</I> Claim Top Honors at Golden Globes

Chicago, the jazz-age musical about sex, murder and celebrity, charmed the jury at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's 60th annual Golden Globe Awards. It took home three honors, including best comedy or musical. The show, broadcast by NBC, even kicked off with new lyrics to one of the movie's signature John Kander-Fred Ebb tunes, Razzle Dazzle.

But though it may have lacked Chicago's jazzier razzle dazzle, The Hours, produced by Paramount Pictures and Miramax, prevailed as the best dramatic movie, and also secured a trophy for Nicole Kidman, who was named best actress in a drama for her role as the film's haunted Virginia Woolf.

In the television categories, FX's cop drama The Shield and HBO's eccentric comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm claimed top series honors.

Richard Gere provided an overture to Chicago's winning night when he was chosen best actor in a comedy or musical. Gere, who plays the fast-talking lawyer Billy Flynn, offered a fulsome acceptance speech, concluding, I got this thing, because the jerk actually tap danced at the end of the movie. Along the way, he also paid testament to Miramax chieftain Harvey Weinstein, noting, There's a kindly, wonderful, gentle man that we all deeply love. His name is Harvey Weinstein. A little rough around the edges but a heart of gold.

Gere's victory was followed quickly by that of his costar Renee Zellweger, who prevailed as best actress in a comedy or musical for her performance as the murderous Roxie Hart. She included in her thanks the movie's director Rob Marshall, saying, Thank you for the gift, not just the fancy dancing shoes that are in my closet now, but for the gifts that came along with those.

Producer Martin Richards took the bows when Chicago, to no one's surprise was named best comedy or musical. Having nurtured the project since its original Broadway stage incarnation in 1975, he began his litany of thank yous by acknowledging a great man, Robert Fosse, the director who originally conceived the show, and then praised Marshall, the film's director, saying then came the miracle -- the miracle was a young man, a brilliant young man, my young director Robert Marshall.

Martin Scorsese was chosen the year's best director for Miramax's Gangs of New York, his lavish period drama about the warring forces that created his hometown of New York City. Noting that the movie had been a lifelong dream, he said, Maybe 'dream comes true' is a cliche, but cliches are true.

Jack Nicholson, who admitted to have taken a Valium, delivered a relatively low-key acceptance speech when he was chosen best actor in a drama for New Line Cinema's About Schmidt, in which he plays a befuddled senior citizen trying to cope with the early days of his retirement. I don't know whether to be happy or ashamed, he said, because I thought we made a comedy.

Taking the stage to accept her best dramatic actress honors, Kidman paid tribute to the other women in her category. Observing that the year had offered up a strong array of women characters, she ended with a plea, I say to the writers, please keep writing for us because we're very interesting. And to the directors, please keep taking chances and giving us complicated, rich characters to play.

When her film was then named best drama, producer Scott Rudin insisted that Kidman, along with her fellow stars, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, join him on stage. If you want to win one of these, he said, these are the three people you want to work with -- three astonishing women, great fiends, great partners.

It was Streep's second visit to the stage. Earlier in the evening, she picked up the best supporting film actress Globe for playing an intrepid journalist in the Sony Pictures release, Columbia Pictures' quirky Adaptation.

I've just been nominated 789 times and I was getting so settled over there for a long winter's nap. Oh, I didn't have anything prepared because it's been, like, since the Pleistocene Era that I have won anything, she exclaimed.

Streep's costar Chris Cooper, taking home the supporting actor award for playing a rascally orchid hunter, thanked the HFPA for giving millions and millions of stringy haired and toothless people a lot a hope, a reference to his unkempt character.

Among the TV contenders, FX's The Shield, the rough-edged cop drama that is just entering its second season, beat out such established players as The Sopranos and The West Wing to win the best TV drama contest. Michael Chiklis, who stars in the series, won the best TV dramatic actor honors.

HBO's semi-improvisational comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, was named best TV comedy series. This is a sad day for the Golden Globes. It is, however, quite a good day for Larry David, deadpanned the show's creator Larry David. I suspect the wife will be a little forthcoming tonight. This is what I have to do for sex. I have to win an award. Anyway, thank you Hollywood Foreign Press for what I hope will be a memorable evening.

HBO also picked up the best miniseries/motion picture made for television award for The Gathering Storm, its portrait of Winston Churchill and his wife on the eve of World War II.

Back on the film side, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor took the best screenplay laurels for About Schmidt, their picaresque tale of a midwestern man floundering during the first days of his retirement.

The winning TV actors included Jennifer Aniston, named best actress in a TV comedy series for her performance as the pregnant Rachel on NBC's Friends, and Tony Shalhoub, something of a surprise winner as best actor in a comedy for his performance as a neurotic detective in USA's Monk.

Edie Falco was named best TV dramatic actress for her work in HBO's The Sopranos. She had to whisper her thanks because of a case of laryngitis.

The best actress in a miniseries or TV movie award went to Uma Thurman for her work in HBO's Hysterical Blindness. Albert Finney scored as best actor in a TV movie his performance as Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm.

The two TV supporting actor awards went to Donald Sutherland -- who beat out seven other competitors -- for his performance in HBO's Path to War, and Kim Catrall, who plays a sexual adventuress in HBO's Sex and the City. You have no idea how many men I've had to sleep with to win this award, she joked.

Back on the film side, Pedro Almodovar's Spanish-language drama, Talk to Her, released in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics, was chosen as best foreign language film. Almodovar struck the only halfway political note of the evening when he added, I would also like to dedicate this award to everyone who fights for peace.

The award for best original score went to Elliot Goldenthal, who composed the Latin-flavored score for Miramax's Frida. He expressed his gratitude to the movie's lead actress, Salma Hayek, who fought for years to get the film made, and its director Julie Taymor, who also happens to be his wife.

The award for best original song in a movie, presented by previous winner Sir Elton John, went to the musical group U2, who wrote the words and music for The Hands That Built America, an anthem penned for Gangs of New York. In accepting, The Edge honored the film's director Scorsese, saying, The films of Martin Scorsese made a massive impact on us growing up in Dublin in the '70s.

Michael Caine introduced film clips illustrating the long and varied career of Gene Hackman, who was the recipient of the evening's Cecil B. Demille Award. Robin Williams added his appreciation of Hackman's comic gifts, noting, In Hollywood, Gene Hackman is known as an actor's actor, but he's known in my house as a comedian's comedian.

I never wanted to be anything but an actor, Hackman said in accepting the tribute. I'm honored and proud to be this year's recipient of the Cecil B. Demille Award. I thank the Hollywood Foreign Press and all of you. There's a line I always wanted to say -- 'Top of the world, ma, top of the world'.

Miramax led the tally for most film wins. Movies that Miramax is distributing domestically pulled in six Globes -- and Miramax could lay claim to another two in The Hours, a Paramount/Miramax coproduction, which Paramount is releasing domestically while Miramax oversees its foreign rollout. Paramount, New Line and Sony Pictures all picked up two awards each, with Sony Pictures Classics earning one trophy.

HBO dominated the TV awards, winning seven trophies, followed by FX with two and NBC and USA with one each.

The 60th annual Golden Globe awards took place Sunday night at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and were broadcast by NBC.